Maxentius in Roman Biography

Maxentius, maks-en'she - us, [Fr. Maxence, mik'- s6nss',] (Marcus AureliuSTValerius,) a Roman emperor, was the son of Maximian, who abdicated in 305 A.D. He married the daughter of the emperor Galerius. He thought himself slighted by the promotion of Constantine to the rank of Caesar in 306, and excited a revolt among the Praetorian guards, who proclaimed him emperor at Rome in the same year. Galerius, who was then in a distant province, sent against him an army under Severus, who was defeated and killed by the aid of Maximian. Maxentius and his father reigned together for a short time, and made an alliance with Constantine, who married Fausta, a sister of Maxentius. Maximian was expelled from Rome in 308, in consequence of a quarrel with his son. In 312 the army of Constantine defeated that of Maxentius, who, in the retreat, was drowned in the Tiber. See Gibbon, " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ;" Tille- MONT, " Histmre des Empereurs."